2012 Toyota Hilux 3.0 D-4D double cab

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home. *To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left. *Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.﻿

We spend time with the Double Cab version of Toyota’s 2012 Hilux 3.0 D-4D Raider 5-speed manual

Can’t argue with that

Published in Weekend Witness Motoring on Saturday March 3, 2012

What does one say about the Hilux? It has been around, in South Africa at least, for 33 years. During that time, 860 000 have been sold here and it is currently easing its way off showroom floors at a rate of over 2500 per month. The Hilux remains southern Africa’s best-selling vehicle and one of the most popular in the world. It is manufactured in eight countries, including our own, and sold in 139. South Africans are finally ready to accept that it has established itself and is worthy of trust – sorry, just a wee dig at those who shy away from anything new.

The current platform was introduced in 2005, with a facelift and a range extension happening last August. For those who may have been off-planet for a while, nip and tuck items in front include a new bonnet with clearly defined centre bulge, and new grille, headlights, fog lights and bumper. The side view features new overfenders for Raiders, new mirrors for Raider and SRX, new plastic wheel caps for those with steel wheels and new alloy rims for higher-spec models. Around at the back, one finds new lights, while Raiders and SRX get a centrally-mounted clear-lensed stop light on the lockable tailgate. In the cabin, the instrument panel, audio system and console have been reworked as well.

Other additions to double-cab Raiders include a height-adjustable driver’s seat and automatic headlights, while three- and four-litre models gain vehicle stability control (VSC) to go with ABS, braking assistance and EBD. Tow ratings have been increased on several models, with this one now rated at 1840 kg braked.

The seat height adjuster is operated by means of a wheel on the side of the seat. It goes down readily, but most drivers would need to lift butt off cushion in order to wind it back up again. Pockets on the seat backs provide extra storage for those in the rear of the cabin, to supplement bottle holders, door bins and the mandatory cup holders provided. Comfort ratings for the SA Standard Tall Passenger are ten each for head- and knee room, with foot space (driver’s seat right down) getting eight out of ten. The kiddie locks are mechanical.

Storage for those in front includes a big central bin, a pair of open trays, two open slots under the music panel and a decently-sized glove box. Its only drawback is that it is filled with the biggest single-language owner’s handbook we have ever seen – Jilly Cooper has a right to feel threatened. Sound, phone and computer display buttons are on the steering wheel, with cruise controls on a separate stalk. The wheel adjusts up and down only. The single channel air conditioner uses pushbutton controls and defaults back to recirculation mode each time the engine is started.

A pleasant touch, uncommon on vehicles at this price level, is that a USB socket is included in the price. These are usually expensive options, with only entry-level cars throwing them in free. There’s a lesson somewhere, especially as every bargain-priced home computer includes two or four of them on its motherboard.

The transfer case uses a separate stick for shifting between 2H, 4H and 4L; good news for those who haven’t quite become comfortable with electronic selection. Differential locking is electrical, though, as is ESP on and off. The cabin is pleasantly decorated in a mix of black and light grey with hard plastic panels on the dash. There is rather a lot of bright silver on the music centre trim and door handles that not everyone would appreciate though.

Early Hiluxes were criticised for harsh ride, but this was apparently greatly improved with a front suspension redesign a few years ago. It is still harder than some over farm roads, but the biggest surprise for us was what happens on slightly imperfect asphalt or concrete surfaces. A resonance kicks in, at what should be normal speeds, which threatens your fillings. It is almost less comfortable than driving on a rough road, where you are at least expecting it. An engineer could probably explain the phenomenon, but we would prefer to live without it.

But Hilux 4x4s are bought for their off-road capabilities and we would never argue with what they can do. D-4Ds are used, for example, with slight suspension modifications and special wheels, to set the route for the Dakar Rally. They are otherwise dead standard, as driven off South American showroom floors. Can’t argue with that.

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

My articles appear every Wednesday in the motoring pages of The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles most months of the year (press cars are withdrawn over the festive season - wonder why?) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police. Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so I do actually exist.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax. So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

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